Vinyl’s vibes are bad
KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO
Frank Uellendahl (left) and chairman David Murray of Greenport’s Historic Preservation Commission inspect vinyl siding the panel wants removed from the house owned by Tom and Angie Korakis at 160 Bay Ave. in Greenport.
The Historic Preservation Commission wants Greenport homeowners Tom and Angie Korakis to remove all vinyl siding from their 160 Bay Ave. house and replace it with some shingles.
That’s what panel members told Southold attorney Patricia Moore Monday night. The couple has lacked a certificate of occupancy for their house since they started the vinyl siding project in 2004. Now their son wants to resolve the situation and hired Ms. Moore to determine what he has to do to get a CO.
After a visit to the property Monday afternoon, commission chairman David Murray told Ms. Moore, “I think leaving any vinyl siding on that house is the wrong thing to do. This house has been mistreated by putting vinyl siding up.”
At some point, Mr. Murray had said it might be possible for the couple to keep the siding on the back of the house if they removed it from the parts of the house visible from the street, as they had proposed. But after his visit, he said the idea wouldn’t work because the cedar shingles the Korakises said they would put up on the front and sides wouldn’t form a tight seal with the vinyl on the back.
Not only that, “There’s no way to do it without it looking atrocious,” he said.
“I feel somewhat misled,” Ms. Moore responded. She said her clients would have been able to use the vinyl siding even though the house is in the historic district if they had not sought a building permit for interior work at the time they started the siding project. After they obtained the permit, any work they did on the house became subject to building department review. While some neighboring houses were vinyl sided without incident, the Korakises twice were slapped with stop-work orders but finished the siding anyway.
Ms. Moore said she was originally told her clients would have to remove siding only from the parts of the building visible from the street and that the commissioners were now changing their tune. That was never a formal determination of the board, Mr. Murray replied.
“Somebody will say it can be done, but it will look terrible,” he said.
He agreed to meet with the contractor to consider if there’s any way the owners might keep the vinyl on the back. The commissioners agreed to postpone a decision until after that meeting.
Mr. Murray suggested that the owners might want to install the cedar shingles in stages so they won’t have to absorb the cost all at once.
The commission could render a final decision at its July 12 meeting.
In other actions, commissioners:
* Approved signage and light fixtures for the new Bego-Ezair Hotel nearing completion on Main Street, but deferred OK’ing the installation of the lights until they can visit the site again this week to see how the fixtures are to be hung.
* Approved new windows for a house at 432 First St., but delayed action on fencing, asking builder Tom McCarthy to submit samples of wood, instead of vinyl.
* Approved signs for the new Wells House Bed and Breakfast expected to open at 530 Main St. by July 4.
